Tennessee Truffles and a Tennessee Corn and Truffle Flan

There are truffières (truffle orchards) in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California, North Carolina and other states. However, Tom is the man that gets phone calls from all over the world asking him to show what he is doing differently that has created his success. I might even call him The Truffle King.
In case you didn’t know this, you just might want to run out and get some of these babies before Valentine’s Day. Truffles are considered to be an aphrodisiac due to the aroma that resembles something very sexual. In fact, female pigs are used to hunt truffles in Europe. The smell of the truffle resembles the male swine’s sexual scent. I know, TMI…I am just telling you what I have discovered…
The early season Périgord Truffles have more of a floral and fruity aroma (most men prefer this). However, as they ripen, they take on a more earthy and musky aroma later in the season. This latter “fragrance” tends to be the favorite of most women. Earthy, musky, Valentine’s Day…I’m just sayin’. And we are at the right time of the truffle season for that particular characteristic. Can I be more specific?
Tom told us that at the Aspen Food and Wine event in 2008, the Lexus truffle exhibit was the most popular exhibit. They served over 4,000 Truffled Cappuccinos (now that gets me excited!)! At the Pebble Beach Food and Wine event in 2009, the most visited exhibit was where Craig von Foerster (Executive Chef of the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, California) was preparing Kobe beef with truffles. There is definitely something about those truffles…
He said that when people would smell some of the truffles that they had on display during these two events, the men always preferred the floral and fruity truffles and the women liked the earthy and musky ones. He said the women even rolled their eyes back in their head from time to time. Okay, I will stop now.
Getting into the truffle business was not entirely foreign for Tom. He grew up on a mushroom farm outside of Chicago. His father grew button mushrooms, which he said are actually quite difficult to grow. Tom also said that button mushrooms are his first love.
Tom received a grant while in graduate studies at Oregon State to write his dissertation, In Vitro Culture and Growth Modeling of Tuber Spp. and Inoculation of hardwoods with T. Melanosporum Ascospores. This is the study of how to grow truffles. I guess this guy knows a thing or two about truffles…do you think?
Throughout his early career, Tom had jobs related more to button mushrooms at both Dole Foods (in Research and Development) and at Monterey Mushrooms (one of the largest mushroom producers in the United States). At that time he was living in California. After getting married, he moved back to Oregon with his wife and started a small mushroom farm.
Eventually, they both decided to go back to their former careers and looked East. His wife landed a great job as a Medical Director at the Greene Valley Developmental Institute in Greeneville, Tennessee, but Tom became the trailing spouse (very common among professional couples in our current culture).
As I have found with many of the interviews I have done with farmers, when there was a change in their life situation they are called back to farming as a way to make a living. That is what Tom did. He said he looked over the hills outside his back door and realized that this terrain and climate (terroir) were very similar to that of the Périgord region in Southern France where the black truffles originate. Voilà! Tom decided to plant some truffle trees using the techniques he developed in his dissertation many years ago!
Tom’s truffière has a total of nearly 2,500 truffle trees on approximately eighteen acres which he began planting in 2000. He has four different orchards with a combination of hazelnut trees (which can produce truffles in five to seven years) and oak trees (which typically take up to ten years to produce truffles). There is no real science to successfully growing truffles, but there certainly is a great deal of luck involved.
When asked what Tom did once he planted these trees and had to wait to see if they would start producing truffles, he said “there were a lot of dance recitals and gymnastics” as he played Mr. Mom. He did say that he developed a great relationship with his children because of this time he spent with them. Many people have gotten involved in growing truffles for the romance of it, he said his was out of necessity.
Oh my word, Gwen! I need to head on up to Tennessee!!!
Hi Robyn,
Yes, you do!! 🙂
Gwen
Very timely! That cute Newfie puppy I just visited is owned by our friends who started a truffle farm a few years ago in North Carolina. Things seem to be moving along as planned in her venture! Tom appears to be quite the expert! Peter Yuen’s Brioche with Truffles looks heavenly, as does the corn and truffle flan. Cancel all those other requests for you to slip lemon curd and limoncello in your suitcase and slip in one of those truffle bad boys instead.
Hi Denise,
Maybe I can slip some goodies in if you consume them before your flight back home! The TSA would certainly have issues with something that looks and smells like this! 😉
Gwen
Wonderful and informative post, Gwen! Sounds like a great trip, and I love to hear about local farmers doing what they love best. Thanks!
Hi Carolyn,
Thank you. These are my favorite posts to do from meeting the people to writing and publishing them. Glad you enjoyed it.
Gwen
Such an exciting post about these marvelous truffles and right on our doorstep! Thanks Gwen!
Hi Maria,
Yes, they are very close by and they are fabulous. Tom really has mastered the art of growing truffles!
Gwen
I think I just found a reason to take a trip to Tennessee. Great post Gwen! Fascinating!
Thank you, Brian. Yes, it would certainly be worth a trip to Tennessee!
Wow. What a fun day. And beautiful food too!
Thank you, Amy. Maybe I can bring some to Savannah! 😉
Seems they’re beginning to have success growing truffles all over the US. Yay…now the rest of us can finally afford some.
Your flan looks and sounds divine!
Hi Pamela,
They aren’t cheap, but they sure are good! It is well worth the splurge once in awhile to have an ingredient this luscious to play with in some dishes.
Gwen
I had no idea that the U.S. could produce a high quality truffle before reading this post. Wow! Thanks for sharing this with your readers.
Velva
Hi Velva,
Thank you for your comment. It is amazing that the U.S. is doing this now and I feel fortunate to have been able to share this article on my site. I am glad you enjoyed it.
Gwen
That was a very informative post and the flan looks tremendous. Bookmarking this for sure.
Hi Sue,
Thank you for your comment and the flan is a must make if you find yourself with some Perigord truffles!
Gwen
Amazing! I had no idea that truffles were being cultivated in North Carolina. They look like high quality truffles.
Hi Christine,
Yes, they are very high quality truffles. North Carolina is also producing some, but Tennessee is where these were from.
Gwen
I live in TN and had no idea this existed! Thanks for sharing…great post 🙂
Beth,
Thank you for the comment. It is pretty nifty to discover these are growing practically in your backyard!
Gwen
…fascinating and very informative interview with Tom…I prefer black over white truffles and place the black variety in my special mashed potatoes….
Did you say truffled mashed potatoes? Oh, my! We may have to get your recipe for those! 🙂
wonderful post—informative,
and very exciting, since I live in Tennessee! many thanks–
Nancy,
Thank you for the comment. I know lots of people are really happy to have discovered these are practically local food!
Gwen
Great post! I would love to head up to Tennessee and check this place out!
Casey,
I think lots of people may be headed to Tennessee to check this out! Thank you for your comment.
Gwen
maps… dot… google…dot…com……. chuckey…
LOL! Hit “Go”!
Oh my Gwen I so enjoyed this post! Extremely interesting and as always, beautifully displayed. I can understand him wanting the chefs to hand pick the truffles, especially after reading your personal description of their ever changing flavor.
Have a great weekend!
Kathy,
Thank you so much for your comment. I am glad that you enjoyed the article. We spoke to a chef yesterday that thoroughly agreed with our description of the truffle and the way it changed over several days. I can also understand why they would want to be able to choose their truffles and how it influences the way they use them in their cooking.
Gwen
This story is utterly fascinating! I knew (living in France and Italy) that pigs and dogs were used to hunt truffles but I had no idea the way the dogs were trained to know and love the scent. Wow! What a great post! We rarely eat truffles but funny enough husband ordered the truffle omelet when we went out for my birthday. Didn’t even offer me a taste. Your flan is so tempting!
Jamie,
Shame on your hubby! Doesn’t he know how to share? 😉 Yes, it really was fascinating to learn how the dogs are trained. We learned so much from this trip.
It truly was fascinating and Tom is delightful.
Gwen
Wow – such an interesting story (and with the TMI piece, every man in America is now out shopping for truffles, I’m sure!)
Thanks for sharing such an informative post!
Hi Kristen,
Yes, every man should be out shopping for truffles after reading this! I never knew…that’s for sure! Glad you enjoyed the article.
Gwen
great, great post Gwen – to say that i’m SHOCKED at truffle-growing in the US is an understatement – who knew??? i had no idea there was such a thing as a ‘truffle tree’, had no idea how the dogs were trained to hunt truffles and certainly had no idea about the TMI on truffles . . . huh. i have purchased truffle butter and use it with pasta – DIVINE! i may just have to order one of these and give it a try!
Hi Debra,
That is what is fun about these types of article.s I never knew truffles were growing on this side of the country until we heard about Tom and his truffles last Summer. It is amazing that they are right in our backyard and that they are fabulous!
Gwen
Road trip! Fabulous post – thanks for sharing this Tennessee find! Truffle trees – who knew? That corn and truffle flan is amazing.
Thank you, Priscilla. Yes, it was a great find and the flan is a must make dish!
Fantastic article, Gwen! I had no idea that there was a bounty of truffles in Tennessee – what a find! The flan sounds like a wonderful way to highlight the flavor.
Thank you, Dara! It was an awesome find as well as making a new friend in Tom. BTW, you should definitely try the flan. It was a lovely (and rich!) side dish.
Another amazing article. You should collect these and publish them. They are some of my favorite blog reads! I knew very little about truffles before reading this post, and now I’m hankering to go to Whole Foods, purchase some truffles and try these beauties for myself. Thank you for sharing another passionate foodie with me.
Hi Monet,
Thank you so much for your comment. These are my favorite posts as well. It is so much fun to meet the people behind the food and get to write these articles.
Gwen
What a great article – You really ought to write for the newspaper. Look at the amount of research you put into these. And here I thought the only ones that can sniff out truffles are pigs! Goes to show how much I know 🙂
Sorry I’ve been out of circulation but good to be back for such a lovely looking flan.
chow! Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
Hi Devaki,
Thank you! Does the newspaper pay more than blogging? 😉
I knew there were truffle dogs, but did not know how they were trained. That was fascinating as was the whole visit to Tennessee Truffles.
I really hope that things are better for you and your family now.
Gwen
Hi Devaki,
Thank you! Does the newspaper pay more than blogging? 😉
I knew there were truffle dogs, but did not know how they were trained. That was fascinating as was the whole visit to Tennessee Truffles.
I really hope that things are better for you and your family now.
Gwen
I had no idea that there were truffles in TN! How fun! And your flan looks wonderful. The richness of the truffles and the sweetness of the corn must be wonderful!
Oh lordy, wish this man was my neighbor!! What a unique profession to get into – he must be a celebrity among celebrity chefs! Will he do tours? We’re trying to plan a trip to TN, would LOVE to check this out for ourselves… 🙂
[K]
Hi Kim, If you head South, we will offer to be your personal tour guide! 😉
hi Gwen
you did get to meet some of the most interesting people around! I knew we had truffles in this country but I never realized where they came from. Thanks for all the info in a really great post!
hope the weather is treating you better
Dennis
This is a fantastic post, Gwen. I had no idea. I hope i get to try them someday!
Gwen and Roger,
Great article and photos on the truffles. It’s amazing how the truffle dogs are groomed from birth.
Keep up your great passion and hobby, it’s so interesting to learn about these culinary secrets!
Kimberly
Would like to visit your farm. Possibly get some Truffle tips for our bloodhound Amos.
http://youtu.be/67WnlNXLtso
Hi Dave,
You actually need to get in touch with Tom Michaels at Tennessee Truffle. http://tennesseetruffle.com/shop/.
Good luck with Amos.
Gwen